Koreatown, Los Angeles

For other Koreatowns, see Koreatown.

Koreatown
—  Neighborhood of Los Angeles  —
City of Los Angeles Koreatown marker
Nickname(s): "K-Town"
Coordinates: 34.0618°N 118.3006°W / 34.0618; -118.3006
Country	United States of America
State	California
County	Los Angeles
City	Los Angeles
Government
• City Council	Tom LaBonge
• State Assembly	Mike Davis (D)
• State Senate	Curren Price (D)
• U.S. House	Karen Bass (D)
Area
• Total	7 km2 (2.7 sq mi)
Population (2008)
• Total	124,281
• Density	16,451/km2 (42,609/sq mi)
	Population changes significantly depending on areas included and recent growth.
ZIP Code	90005
Area code(s)	213

Wilshire Boulevard in Koreatown

Koreatown is a neighborhood in the Mid-Wilshire district of the city of Los Angeles, California known for its concentration of Korean American people and institutions. Home to a population of over 120,000 and covering just under 3-square-mile (7.8 km²), it has the highest population density of all neighborhoods in Los Angeles and its density ranks among the highest in the United States.

The neighborhood is in the midst of a construction boom that has helped fuel an influx of new residents priced out from nearby Los Feliz and West Hollywood. The neighborhood is known for its many commercial and residential mid- and high-rise towers, historic buildings, Asian high-fashion boutiques, and the largest concentration of nightclubs and 24-hour businesses and restaurants in Southern California.

Geography

Olympic Boulevard, looking east towards downtown

The city of Los Angeles has set the official boundary for Koreatown as Olympic Boulevard from Western Avenue to Vermont Avenue on the south, Vermont Avenue from Olympic Boulevard to Third Street on the east, Third Street from Vermont Avenue to Western Avenue on the north, Western Avenue from Third Street to Olympic Boulevard, including a business corridor along Western Avenue from Third Street to Rosewood Avenue situated inside the East Hollywood area on the west. The proposed boundaries include both sides of the street (Los Angeles City Council File 09-06096). The Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Fire Department, Los Angeles Unified School District, Wilshire Center-Koreatown Neighborhood Council (WCKNC), Los Angeles County, US Census Bureau and the Koreatown Cultural Center all maintain their own set of boundaries, none of them in agreement.

The neighborhood is centrally located in the city of Los Angeles. It lies 3 miles (5 km) west of downtown, 4 miles (6 km) south-east of Hollywood, 12 miles (19 km) from Santa Monica Beach and 16 miles (26 km) from Los Angeles International Airport.

The neighborhood terrain is generally flat, with an average elevation of 200 feet (61 m); latitude 34.058 and longitude -118.301.

History

Henry Gaylord Wilshire

Recorded settlement of the neighborhood first began in the 1870s. In 1888, the Los Angeles area suffered a real estate land bust, forcing the sale of lots for as little as $2.50 each. Henry Gaylord Wilshire had arrived with his family in Los Angeles four years prior and began purchasing lots in the neighborhoods of Hancock Park, Westlake Park and Lafayette Park, including a 35-acre (140,000 m²) tract on the edge of Hancock Park and the northwestern section of what later became Koreatown.

In 1887, private funds had been donated to Los Angeles to convert the city dump into Westlake Park, now MacArthur Park. Because Wilshire's property surrounded the future park site, the city negotiated with Wilshire to build a street, bisecting his property in exchange for the street to meet the 120-foot (37 m) width sought by Wilshire and the street bearing his name.

In 1900, Germain Pellisser paid $25 per acre to the Southern Pacific Transportation Company for 160 acres (0.65 km²) between what is now Normandie and Western Avenues to raise sheep and barley. Also settling in the area was Reuben Schmidt, who purchased several acres of land east of Normandie for a dairy farm.

A 1911 donation to a local church by the Chapman Brothers led to the construction of the Wilshire Christian Church--the first church on Wilshire Boulevard. In 1913, Wilshire Boulevard received its first high-rise building with the construction of the 10-story Bryson Apartment Hotel, which was eventually purchased in 1944 by film actor Fred MacMurray. With Hollywood officially becoming part of the city of Los Angeles, many of its luminaries, including Mary Pickford and Harold Lloyd, built homes in the area, as did Los Angeles Times founder Harrison Gray Otis. Other notable residents to move into the area were Isaac Van Nuys and G. Allen Hancock.

Koreatown is also known as the location of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.

The Roaring Twenties

In 1920, the Western Avenue Businessmen's Association was formed. The association later became the Wilshire Chamber of Commerce. The following year saw the opening of the Ambassador Hotel on the former site of the Reuben Schmidt dairy farm. In 1924, construction began on the 14-story Gaylord Hotel--the tallest building in Los Angeles at the time. The following two years also saw the construction of the Asbury, the Langham, the Fox Normandie, the Piccadilly, and the Windsor high-rise apartment buildings. Many of Hollywood's elite lived in these elegant New York-style apartment buildings.

Joseph Schenck, president of United Artists, purchased a newly constructed high-rise apartment for his actress wife Norma Talmadge in 1922, which was renamed the Talmadge. The couple lived on the 10th floor. The Doheny family opened the Town House on Wilshire and Commonwealth as an apartment hotel in 1924, later selling the building to Conrad Hilton. The same year saw the installation of the first neon sign in the country at a Packard car dealership on Wilshire Blvd.

Only one year later, Wilshire Boulevard became a tourist attraction for Southern California residents because of the large number of roof-top neon signs. With Westlake Park lake the backdrop for many of his movies, Charlie Chaplin moved to an apartment building he purchased near the Ambassador Hotel. Also taking cue from the move was Gloria Swanson, who moved into an apartment building she purchased across the street from the Ambassador. Swanson and her husband, Herbert Somborn, opened the iconic Hollywood hangout the Brown Derby on Wilshire and Alexandria in 1926.

The world's first drive thru opened in 1929 at the Chapman Market building located on 6th and Alexandria. That same year, department store Bullock's opened its first "suburban" department store on Wilshire and Westmoreland (now used for Southwestern Law School). The 12-story building was modeled after the Paris Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Moderne. Also that year, the Academy Awards ceremony moved from the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood to the Ambassador Hotel and a section of the Germain Pellessier sheep farm on the corner of Wilshire and Western became the construction site of what would be the crown jewel of the Warner Brothers theater chain. The theater, and adjoining 12-story Pellessier building, opened in 1931 and the following year was renamed the Wiltern Theatre.

Role during the Hollywood golden age

The 1930s saw the height of the area's association with Hollywood. The Ambassador Hotel hosted the Academy Awards ceremony in 1930, 1931, 1932, and 1934. The now Koreatown area began to be referred to as the Upper Eastside of the West Coast. Hollywood's elite continued to settle in the neighborhood, as did the city's leading families such as the Jansses, Banning, Rowan, Mulholland, Hilton, Sepulveda, and Windsor families. In 1939, I. Magnin opened the first store in the country to be entirely operated by electricity and the first air-conditioned building on Wilshire and New Hampshire.

The Great Depression only slightly affected the development of the neighborhood and before the end of the decade, the neighborhood would rival Beverly Hills and Pasadena in wealth and prestige. Wilshire Boulevard gained international fame during this period and was more known than Hollywood Boulevard. Wilshire Boulevard between Vermont and Western Avenues was the place to see and be seen and the place to see movie stars strolling the streets during Hollywood's golden era.

With the Ambassador Hotel as anchor, the Brown Derby, Cocoanut Grove club, and Wiltern Theatre frequently saw the likes of Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Louis Armstrong, Howard Hughes, and Julie Andrews, who all resided in the neighborhood at some point.

In 1943, the Ambassador Hotel hosted its sixth and final Academy Awards ceremony. The hotel continued to draw well-known and powerful people of the day, including Presidents Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Ronald Reagan, and an endless list of dignitaries from Queen Elizabeth II to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

In 1951, the Wilshire Center country club and golf range on Wilshire between Mariposa and Normandie was sold to developers following the lifting of the city 13-story height limit. The site became the triple 12-story Tishman Plaza (now the Central Plaza), US Borax building, CNA building (now the Superior Court building), and the Wilshire Plaza.

Decentralization of Los Angeles

Towards the end of the 1950s, the trend to move westward and into the suburbs swept Downtown's financial and commercial businesses, with many relocating to the neighborhood's business district along Wilshire Boulevard between Vermont and Western Avenues. A number of 20- and 30-story office high-rise buildings were erected during the period in the area including the headquarters of Getty Oil, H.F. Ahmanson & Co., Equitable Life Insurance, Beneficial Financial Group, and Wausau Financial.

As Los Angeles rapidly decentralized along newly constructed freeway corridors, Wilshire Boulevard and the areas surrounding fell into a steep and lengthy decline. Many of the commercial and financial businesses that had relocated to the area during the 1950s left the area and moved further west. With property values drastically diminished, the area saw a heavy influx of Koreans during the 1960s, after restrictions on immigration to the United States from East Asia were lifted via the Immigration Act of 1965.

In 1968, after winning the California primary and Democratic nomination for President, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, brother to former US President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel. His body was rushed to nearby Good Samaritan Hospital, where he was declared dead.

Korean reinvention

In an effort to reverse the area's decline, a seven-year study by a community advisory group and the City Planning Department was conducted, and the Wilshire Plan was submitted to the Planning Committee of the City Council, resulting in the area and its surrounding neighborhoods being declared the Wilshire Center District.

In the 1970s, the Heavy-Chemical Industry Drive initiated by South Korean president Park Chung-hee, which displaced much of Korea's petit bourgeoisie, resulted in even more Koreans settling in Wilshire Center--part of which was soon rechristened "Koreatown." Korean immigrants established a permanent foothold in the area with the opening of the Korean Youth and Community Center in 1974. The neighborhood at the time had an estimated 70,000 Korean immigrants.^{[citation needed]}

Los Angeles Riots of 1992

On the afternoon of April 29, 1992, a Los Angeles area jury acquitted four white Los Angeles Police Department officers in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King. What ensued after is known as the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, the Uprising, or Rodney King Riots. During the following six days, the city of Los Angeles and neighboring communities experienced the largest civil unrest in Los Angeles since the 1965 Watts Riots. Los Angeles experienced massive looting, murders, fires, property damage, racial brawls along major intersections, power outages, loss of phone services, cancellation of all entertainment and sports events, and altered flight schedules due to gunfire at Los Angeles International Airport.

Koreatown experienced the hardest crime and destruction of the ordeal. Hundreds of Korean-owned businesses were looted, damaged, or burnt down, and an unknown number of Koreans were physically attacked. By the second day of rioting, the LAPD and County Sheriff had been overpowered by the number of rioters forcing the departments to pull all units from patrol. As violent rioters next turned their attention to firefighters, the LAFD also recalled their teams. This left unchecked crime and fires that quickly expanded. The Korean American community, seeing the police force's abandonment of Koreatown, organized gun-wielding groups to protect businesses and area residents. Open gun battles were televised live as shopkeepers defended their business from the crowds of violent looters.

Order was restored on the sixth day of rioting after a mandatory curfew, lock down, and state of emergency had been declared. At its peak, the deployment of the National Guard, brigades from the 7th Infantry Division based at Fort Ord, Marines from the 1st Marine Division based at Camp Pendleton, US Coast Guard from the 11th District, and federal officers including FBI, the Federal Protective Service, the Immigration & Customs Enforcement, and the Justice Department assisted the LAPD, Los Angeles County Sheriff, California Highway Patrol, Los Angeles Fire Department, and the police departments of Bell, Bell Gardens, Beverly Hills, Compton, Cudahy, Culver City, Downey, El Segundo, Gardena, Glendale, Hawthorne, Huntington Park, Inglewood, Long Beach, Maywood, Paramount, Pasadena, Santa Monica, South Gate, Torrance, and Vernon.

By the time the riots ended, 54 lives were lost, 2,383 people were injured (228 critical), 12,111 people were arrested, 7,001 fires were set, 1,400 structures were destroyed, 3,100 businesses were looted, and there was an estimated material damage of $1 billion. Over 15,000 military and federal officers with 2,000 military Humvees, 20 M1A1 Abrams tanks, 5 AH-64 Apache helicopters, and the visual presence of F-15 fighters complemented the combined police presence of 16,000 officers.

In the aftermath of the riots, a large percentage of Korean residents moved to Orange County and the San Fernando Valley. Many business owners did not reopen or repair their businesses, leaving the area with block after block of burnt down or abandoned buildings. Property values dipped below the notoriously poor areas of East Los Angeles and South Central.

According to Edward Park, the 1992 violence stimulated a new wave of political activism among Korean Americans, but it also split them into two main camps. The liberals sought to unite with other minorities in Los Angeles to fight against racial oppression and scapegoating. The conservatives emphasized law and order and generally favored the economic and social policies of the Republican Party. The conservatives tended to emphasize the political differences between Koreans and other minorities, specifically blacks and Hispanics.

Revitalization

In 2000, the City of Los Angeles began to promote smart growth and removed many of the parking, low-housing, bed, pollution, tourist, and new construction taxes that restricted redevelopment and new construction. With very little open land left in the city, the city eyed pre-1980s Koreatown as the ideal and model for the future of L.A. Most importantly however, Koreatown is in the center of the city of Los Angeles and is well-served by public-transit.

With the collapse of the Japanese economy and stagnant Korean economy, many in those countries eyed Los Angeles as a bargain, with Koreatown being the closest match to densely populated, high-rise Tokyo and Seoul. As Korean and Japanese investment began to mount, so did construction in the area. As former Koreatown business owners and residents took notice in new Asian development, many began to use the new interest of Koreatown as a catalyst to return.

During the same time period, Los Angeles completed the Purple Line leg of its new subway system, with three stops in Koreatown along high-rise Wilshire Boulevard. As with many public investments, the value of the local real estate increased, bringing gentrification of older buildings and new construction—in particular, the Solair condominiums above the Wilshire and Western subway station and a school and the Wilshire Vermont apartments above the Wilshire and Vermont station.

6th Street and Alexandria looking north towards Hollywood

Since the smart-growth adoption of the City Council, Koreatown has bloomed with new construction permits and adaptive re-use requests. The Purple Line will be extended to stations in Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, and West Los Angeles.

Furthering its gentrification roll-out, in late 2008, the City of Los Angeles designated Koreatown a special graphics district (along with Hollywood and the downtown neighborhood of South Park/LA Live). The designation allows for digital signage and electronic billboards, currently not permitted by city code, to be installed on building facades. The designation allowed Times Square and Shibuya District-inspired buildings lined with LCD jumbotrons. The 300-square block graphics district is bordered by 6th Street and Olympic Boulevard from the north and south, and St. Andrews Place and Shatto from the west to east.

More recently, L.A.'s Koreatown has been perceived to have experienced declining political power secondary to re-districting and an increased crime rate, prompting an exodus of Koreans from the area.

Neighborhood culture

Parade performers during the Korean Festival

Demographics

Koreatown is among the most diverse neighborhoods in the United States. Although Latinos (54%) are the largest ethnic demographic in Koreatown, Korean-Americans are the single largest national demographic at 23% followed by those of Mexican ancestry at 22%.

With its rich diversity, an emergence of a new multiculturalism between the Korean and Latino populations in Koreatown has begun to foreshadow an unprecedented change for American history.^{[citation needed]} Most Korean businesses draw their employees, and in many cases customers, from the surrounding area's large Latino population. The relationship is such that Korean business owners are learning Spanish in increasing rates and Latinos are learning Korean.^{[citation needed]} Several Korean churches and community centers in Koreatown offer free Spanish and Korean to local residents.^{[citation needed]} It is not unusual to find Latino employees in restaurants and grocery stores speaking Korean with customers or Korean store owners engaging Latino customers in Spanish. Moreover, it is common to see Korean American customers eating in Latino restaurants and Latin American customers eating in Korean restaurants.^{[citation needed]} A visual example of this rich and unique cultural exchange between Koreans and Latinos in Koreatown is the recent popularity of Korean-inspired taco trucks in LA that feature classic Mexican food items infused with Korean ingredients.

Shopping

6th Street at Alexandria

Koreatown has several shopping centers that cater to Korean customers. There are many mini-malls and individual stores that sell ethnic products favored by the local residents.

Nightlife

The local scene in Koreatown is unique in Los Angeles, having the feel of a mini-Seoul. It is dotted with Korean language signs, often with no translation.

The neighborhood has over 1,100 night-time establishments which includes numerous bars, clubs, restaurants, spas, noraebangs (karaoke studios), dancehalls, theaters, poolhalls, coffeehouses, Hookah Lounges and internet parlors.

Koreatown is the nearest to a 24-hour district in Los Angeles, and has the highest concentration of nightclubs and restaurants in Southern California.

Though it is against California state law, smoking is tolerated everywhere. Many businesses serve liquor after 2 a.m. LAPD cites alcohol violations in the form of after hours sales and sales to minors as a "big problem."

A smorgasbord of restaurants can be found in Koreatown from every food category and culture. From tofu houses, Korean BBQ, Mexican taco stands, bakeries, Greek gyros, pizza, Vietnamese Pho noodle houses, Thai, Salvadoran pupuserías, boba parlors, Chinese food to American hamburger stands, coffee houses and steakhouses, it is common to find several of these types of restaurants in a single Koreatown shopping plaza, minimall, or city block.

Festivals

Koreatown holds several annual festivals. The Korean Festival & Parade is held along Olympic Blvd. and marches to the Seoul Peace Park. The Wilshire Center Business Improvement District (WCBID) holds the annual Earth Day / Car Free Day Festival every April 22 on Wilshire Blvd. The City of Los Angeles holds the Earth Day Expo along Wilshire Blvd every June. The Thai consulate holds the Indonesian festival every August at Mariposa Ave and Wilshire Blvd. The Greek Festival is held every September along Normandie Avenue adjacent to the St. Sophia Cathedral. The Festival Navideño de la Calle 8 is the largest toy drive festival in the United States, where it encompasses several blocks around 8th St. and Normandie Ave. during early December every year.

Crime and safety

Though individual numbers for the various classified crimes rank mid to high among the city's districts,^{[citation needed]} when resident population and the area's density is used to determine rates, Koreatown is not a high-crime rate area.^{[citation needed]}

Transportation

Metro Purple Line subway

Metro operates two subway lines - the Red Line, which runs from North Hollywood to Downtown LA along Vermont Avenue, and the Purple Line, which runs along Wilshire Boulevard, both of which run near or through Koreatown. The neighborhood is served primarily by the Purple Line Wilshire/Normandie station.

In addition to the two subway lines, Metro operates numerous Express, Rapid and Local bus lines through the district. Rapid lines include the 710 Crenshaw, 720 Wilshire, 728 Olympic, 754 Vermont, and 757 Western. Local lines include the 207 Western, 20 Wilshire/Westwood, 204 Vermont and 206 Normandie. Many MTA bus lines in Koreatown offer 24 hour service.

The LADOT operates three district-to-district DASH routes, one Commuter Express line and Cityride. Koreatown is served by DASH Hollywood/Wilshire line, and Dash Koreatown. The DASH lines are meant for local neighborhood transportation; their routes are short in comparison to MTA lines. All DASH service ends at 7pm weekdays and on Saturday and Sundays only Dash Koreatown operates, ending the service at 6pm. All Dash fares cost 50 cents. Commuter Express line 534 Century City provides weekday service while Cityride offers door to door dial-a-ride service for the elderly and disabled.

Foothill Transit services one express line in Koreatown, line 481. It operates only during weekday rush hours and runs from Wilshire and St. Andrews to the El Monte Bus Station.

Economy

Consulate-General of South Korea in Los Angeles

Asiana Airlines operates a sales office in Koreatown. Korean Air's United States Passenger Operations headquarters are located in close proximity to Koreatown in the Westlake community. Grupo TACA operates a Los Angeles-area TACA Center in Suite 100P at 3600 Wilshire Boulevard.

The Consulate-General of South Korea in Los Angeles is located at 3243 Wilshire Boulevard. The Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Los Angeles is located at 443 Shatto Place, while the passport and visa office is on the third floor of 500 Shatto Place. The Consulate General of El Salvador is located at 3450 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 250 [3] and the Consulate General of Guatemala is located at 3540 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 100 [4]. The Consulate General of Honduras[5] and Nicaragua are located at 3550 Wilshire Blvd. The Consulate General of Bolivia is located at 3701 Wilshire Blvd #1056 [6].

South Korean investment has been a large contributor to the neighborhood economy since the 1960s. Since the early 2000s, that investment has increased greatly, ballooning to an estimated $1 billion in new construction investment.

Since the adoption by the Los Angeles City Council of smart growth and the subsequent removal of zoning laws and tax fees, Japanese investment has notably increased as well as interest from the UAE firm Dubai Holding.^{[citation needed]}

Government

LAPD's newest station, Olympic Station, serves Koreatown

The Wilshire Center - Koreatown Neighborhood Council is designated by the City of Los Angeles to represent the area's citizens' concerns to the city, as a supplement to the City Council representation. The area represented by the council includes Koreatown & Wilshire Center, as well as parts of MacArthur Park, Hancock Park, and Mid-Wilshire.

Representatives

Koreatown lies within District 4 of the city of Los Angeles and is represented on the city council by Tom LaBonge. The area is represented by Mark Ridley-Thomas, Supervisor of District 2 for Los Angeles County. Mike Davis is the State Assemblyman for the Koreatown area. Karen Bass of the thirty-third Congressional District represents the area in the House of Representatives.

Fire service

Four Fire Stations of the Los Angeles Fire Department serve the community of Koreatown respectively:

Station 29 serving Southwest Koreatown at Wilshire Blvd. and Wilton Avenue.
Station 13 serving Southeast Koreatown at Pico Blvd. and Westmoreland Avenue.
Station 52 serving Northwest Koreatown at Melrose Avenue and Western Avenue.
Station 6 serving Northeast Koreatown at Temple Street and Virgil Avenue.

Police service

Los Angeles Police Department provides police service to the City of Los Angeles, broken up into twenty-one local divisions. Koreatown is served by Olympic Division. The new station completed construction and opened for service on January 4, 2009. The entirety of Koreatown is contained within the borders of Olympic Division.^{[citation needed]}

Education

Leo Politi Elementary School, Los Angeles, California

Berendo Middle School

Los Angeles High School

Camino Nuevo High School

West Adams Preparatory High School at night

Public schools

The Los Angeles Unified School District serves Koreatown residents as Local District 3 and 4. Traditionally, the following schools serve the residents of Koreatown:

Alexandria Avenue Elementary School, Cahuenga Elementary School, Hobart Boulevard Elementary School, Kim Elementary School, Young Oak Kim Academy, Los Angeles Elementary School, Mariposa-Nabi Primary Center, Virgil Middle School, Berendo Middle School, Belmont High School, Camino Nuevo Charter High School, Fairfax High School, Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools, Los Angeles High School, West Adams Preparatory High School.

The Los Angeles Leadership Academy charter school had first opened in Koreatown in 2002. The school is now in Lincoln Heights.

Private schools

Several private schools can also be found in Koreatown. Those schools include Mid-Wilshire Christian School, Wilshire Blvd. Temple, St. Brendan School, Plymouth School, St.Gregory Nazianzen, St. James School, Point Sat Academy, Pilgrim School, and LA Academy. Wilshire School, the only Korean-American K-6 elementary school in the nation, is nearby in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles.

Colleges and universities

Koreatown lies within the Los Angeles Community College District. The nearest campus of the Los Angeles City College (LACC) is located 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of Koreatown in East Hollywood. The Pacific States University lies in southern Koreatown.

List of schools in the Koreatown area:

• American Career College
• Art Institute (Ai)
• Bryman College, now known as Everest College
• California Design College (CDC)
• Cinema Makeup School
• Dongguk University, Los Angeles campus
• Hubbard College
• Los Angeles Pacific College
• South Baylo University
• Southwestern University School of Law
• West Coast University
• Westwood College

Public libraries

• Pio Pico Koreatown Branch Library of the Los Angeles Public Library serves the area.

Community organizations

• Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA) is a longstanding community organization in LA's Koreatown that has organized the community to achieve significant social change

Other education

The Korean Education Center, affiliated with the government of South Korea, is located in Suite 200 at 680 Wilshire Place.

Parks and recreation

Construction of a new YMCA facility at Third Street and Western Avenue began in January 2013 and is planned to be complete in spring 2014. A planned park at the corner of Hobart and 7th Streets, to be paid for with CRA funding, is in limbo. The area is one of the most park-poor areas in the City of Los Angeles.

The Seoul International Park, a city park, has ball fields and a recreation center.

Landmarks

• 

  Wilshire Christian Church

• 

  St. Basil Catholic Church

• 

  Wilshire Boulevard Temple

• 

  The historic Chapman Market today

• Koreatown Plaza
• Koreatown Galleria

Religious structures

• First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles
• Oriental Mission Church (OMC)
• World Agape Mission Church (세계 아가폐 선교 교회)

There are many smaller churches in the area, as well as Korean Buddhist temples and the Zen Center of Los Angeles.

See also

• List of Korea-related topics
• Our Town in Los Angeles Times suburban sections

Further reading

• Nancy Abelmann and John Lie, Blue dreams: Korean Americans and the Los Angeles riots (1997)
• H.C. Laux and G. Theme, "Koreans in Greater Los Angeles: socioeconomic polarization, ethnic attachment, and residential patterns," in W. Li, ed. From urban enclave to ethnic suburb: New Asian communities in Pacific Rim countries (U of Hawaii Press, 2006) pp 95–118
• Lee, Dong Ok. "Responses to Spatial Rigidity in Urban Transformation: Korean Business Experience in Los Angeles," International Journal of Urban & Regional Research, March 1995, Vol. 19 Issue 1, pp 40–54
• Light, Ivan and Edna Bonacich. Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Koreans in Los Angeles, 1965-1982 (1989).
• Youngmin Lee and Kyonghwan Park, "Negotiating hybridity: transnational reconstruction of migrant subjectivity in Koreatown, Los Angeles," Journal of Cultural Geography, Oct 2008, Vol. 25 Issue 3, pp 245–262

External links

• List of Korean-American Churches in Los Angeles Area
• Wilshire Center - Koreatown Neighborhood Council
• US Census 2000 Statistics for Los Angeles